recommendations for robust concrete mixing tray please

Never had a tray, so can't really recommend any. The question I would ask is "do you actually need one?" Normally if I want a mix of "wheelbarrow of less" quantity, then I chuck the ingredients in the barrow, put a a mixing paddle in the end of a cordless drill, and mix it that way. (for very small quantities, I might use a flexible bucket and a bucket trowel)

I use two flexible garden tubs and tip from one to the other several times with a bit of shovel stirring as well.>

What about something like a gravel tray?

Mine (8-10 years old?) is one of the octagonal plastic ones from wickes, no issue with it (well, I think my back would kill me if I used it in anger, I've got a little mixer now)

Flipping heck. You must be still a youngster in your 60s or less Tim! Lucky you! AJ

That sounds like what I've got - octagonal, heavy duty black plastic and 1 meter across the diagonal. I've used it for concrete, mortar, etc. It's actually my second, which I got in 2017: I sacrificed my first one (also gave about 8-10 years service) to be installed underneath our bird feeders to catch the considerable wastage.

Oh, and these days I try to avoid cement-based products: it's a conservation measure: my back and the rest of this pathetic body don't like the activity. I use my mixing tray mostly for mixing compost: chuck the tray on the lawn, chuck on the various compost ingredients, and use my [fantastic] plastic shovel to mix all thoroughly.

Another John

Hmm. I was born halfway through WW2! Agricultural life perhaps. I also have a cement mixer for larger jobs.

I had one for a long while I seem to remember it was branded Tuffspot. Although all the trays I have seen look as though they are made from rubber they have all been a tough plastic construction. Go to a builders merchant with their clientele they will tend to be the more robust type.

Richard

Hi all, thanks for the comments/suggestions. I may have to have another think:

- I don't have a wheelbarrow, but if John Rumm manages without a 'spot'...

- The various gravel trays etc. are even less substantial than the mixing trays.

- using two flexi tubs is not a bad idea, actually. The last lot I mixed by hand (only 20kg or so); I do have a mixing paddle and would have tried using it, but I ended up mixing on a thin thin ply surface rather than in a tub

- the Wickes trays seem to get some 1-star reviews, for exactly the reason I suggested. Next time I am in the vicinity I will take a look at them. Sadly I have a suspicion that the ones the 'proper' merchants sell are similarly poor, though.

Maybe I will stick with what I have for now, and keep an eye out for other options.

Cheers, J^n

PS: Until John Rumm mentioned them I had never heard of a 'bucket trowel'. As it happens I was in Aldi last week and saw a strange trapezoidal shaped tool they called a 'tyrolean trowel'. I can now see the use of this shape for getting the mix out of the bucket...

Yes definitely handy, think I got mine as part of a multi-pack of trowels ...

I have two Stewart gravel trays of considerable vintage. Grey plastic and roughly 21" square. I have used them in the past for mixing batches of compost, and one still bears the signs of me knocking up a batch of mortar.

These are robust, but of course the Stewart range may have been cost reduced over the years.

The one thing they don't have is very high sides to contain water during the mixing process, but if you are accustomed to knocking stuff up on a convenient area of concrete slab you will no doubt know how to keep the water in the dip in the centre.

If you are considering the Stewart brand, worth finding a stockist to check it out.

HTH

Dave R

"Respect!!"

I had forgotten that you'd mentioned, once, that you were/are a farmer! You chaps really do know what hard work is, and I take my hat off to you.

AJ